UK Justice Policy Review - Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018 - Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
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UK Justice Policy Review
Volume 8
8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
by Richard Garside, Roger Grimshaw,
Matt Ford and Helen MillsUK Justice Policy Review
Volume 8
8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
by Richard Garside, Roger Grimshaw,
Matt Ford and Helen Mills
About the authors
Richard Garside is Director, Roger Grimshaw
is Research Director, Matt Ford is Associate,
Helen Mills is Senior Associate, all at the
Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.
Acknowledgements
Without the generous support of The Hadley
Trust this publication would not have been
possible. We thank them for their support for
this series. Thank you to Tammy McGloughlin
and Neala Hickey for their production work
and to Steve Swingler our designer.
Registered charity No. 251588
A company limited by guarantee
Registered in England No. 496821
Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
2 Langley Lane
Vauxhall
London
SW8 1GB
info@crimeandjustice.org.uk
www.crimeandjustice.org.uk
©Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
April 2019
ISBN: 978-1-906003-73-9
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
2Contents
Summary 4
Introduction 6
Speeches 8
Legislation 12
Police 14
Data dashboard 20
Courts and access to justice 22
Prisons 26
Probation 32
Coming up: Ends and beginnings? 36
Technical appendix 38
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
3Summary
Introduction
Further signs of a simmering crisis in criminal • Changes at the top: who was in, who was out
justice, with major questions for the police, • Planning for Brexit
courts, prisons and probation, and uncertainty
• Criminal justice facing multiple challenges
over international criminal justice cooperation
following Brexit. • Coverage of the Lammy Review, Managing
children who offend, and the Female Offender
Strategy, among others.
Speeches
While the Home Secretary signalled a shift • Sentencing and prison reform in Scotland
in tone on policing in England and Wales, in • Prison crisis in England and Wales
Scotland, ministers set out ambitions for
• The police warm to the new Home Secretary
change. Two Justice Secretaries in England
and Wales offered similar remedies to the • A new plan for Scottish policing
growing prisons crisis. • Summary of the most important speeches
Legislation
In Scotland the government took small steps • Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill
to take some of the heat out of sentencing, and • Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill
promote rehabilitation. In England and Wales
• Management of Offenders Bill
the government took small steps to heat up
sentencing further and avoid difficult reforms. • Summary of all the key legislation
Policing
Across the UK there were different answers • Changes in violence recorded by the police
to questions about police numbers, budgets, • Vulnerability and hate crime
workloads, and what the police are there to do.
• Police governance and accountability
• How many police is enough? • Deaths in custody
• Controlling police budgets • Police spying
• Making sense of police purpose and workloads
Data dashboard
An at-a-glance overview of the
key UK criminal justice data and
trends over the past five years.
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
4Courts
The ambitious court transformation • From physical courts to virtual hearings
programme encountered major difficulties. • Speeding up court processes
Meanwhile, questions emerged on the
• Problems with evidence disclosure
disclosure and use of evidence. Scotland took
steps to resolve the long-running problem of • The problem of legal aid reform
legal aid reform. • Tougher sentencing
Prisons
The prison crisis in England and Wales • Faltering progress on reducing the Scottish
deepened, while in Scotland and Northern women’s prison population
Ireland the focus was more on routine matters • Youth justice reform in Northern Ireland
and estate renewal.
• The John Worboys case
• Crisis engulfs the system in England and Wales • The new urgent notification system in England
and Wales
Probation
The contrasting fortunes across England, • Financial and organisational challenges in
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland meant Scotland
that there was no clear pattern for probation • Death threats in Northern Ireland
delivery across the United Kingdom.
• Ever increasing dysfunction in England and
Wales
Coming up
The looming Brexit deadline, the fraying of • Further changes at the top
the party system in parliament, and ongoing • A major parliamentary report on the future
political deadlock in Northern Ireland more of policing
and more militated against long-term policy
• Ongoing problems with legal aid
agendas.
• Growing uncertainty over Brexit
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
5Introduction
Introduction
Key reports
This edition of UK Justice Policy Review takes
Managing children who offend
the story forward from the June 2017 General Northern Ireland Audit Office
Election to the parliamentary recess of summer 6 July 2017
2018. Just over a year, in which there were
Northern Ireland needs a specific
many opportunities for reflection on current strategy to guide youth justice policy
criminal justice performance and priorities, but and practice and to coordinate youth
minds began to become preoccupied with the justice services.
increasingly imminent prospect of the UK leaving
The Lammy Review
the EU in 2019. David Lammy
The Election brought about a change in the 8 September 2017
balance of power in the House of Commons. The Criminal justice agencies should
government was obliged to find allies to support adopt an ‘explain or reform’ approach
when faced with racial disparities in
its parliamentary proposals and an alliance was
their caseloads.
formed between the Northern Ireland Democratic
Unionists and the Conservative party to create a A framework to support positive
working majority. change for those at risk of
offending in Wales
Welsh Government
Changes at the top 2 March 2018
After the Election Amber Rudd continued as Greater collaboration and a focus on
early intervention will reduce criminal
Home Secretary. David Lidington became the
justice demand in Wales.
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor,
to be replaced by David Gauke in January 2018. Young adults in the criminal justice
In the same month Rory Stewart took over a system
ministerial portfolio which included prisons and House of Commons Justice Committee
probation. In April, Amber Rudd resigned over 20 June 2018
the Home Office’s treatment of the Windrush Current approaches to criminalised
generation of migrants and was succeeded by young adults are too narrow and
lacking in imagination and ambition.
Sajid Javid.
In Scotland, Chief Constable Phil Gormley Female Offender Strategy
resigned in February 2018 while facing misconduct Ministry of Justice
27 June 2018
allegations, whereas Cabinet Secretary Michael
Matheson remained in post until June 2018. In A greater recourse to community
sentences can help to reduce the
Northern Ireland, no solution was found to the
number of women sent to prison.
continuing suspension of the Assembly.
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
6Brexit came nearer responses to extradition requests were also likely
to be qualified.
The government’s paper Security, law enforcement
and criminal justice was published in September On the UK side, the future authority of the Court
2017. It argued for a close collaborative of Justice of the European Union continued to be
relationship between the UK and the EU that went a moot question, as, in July 2018, the European
beyond the EU’s existing relationships with third Committee of the House of Lords warned. The
party countries. general mechanism for dispute settlement in
the later draft agreement highlighted political
In June 2018 the Scottish Government published
resolution as well as arbitration while retaining a
Scotland’s Place In Europe: security, judicial co-
role for the European Court.
operation and law enforcement. It was critical of
the UK Government for failing to consult about The extent to which current arrangements satisfy
the paper published in September and the further all parties was questioned, as in the case of
outline framework issued in May 2018. It accused Spain’s attempt to extradite the Catalan president
the UK Government of ignoring the separate nature Carles Puigdemont from Germany. A regional
of the Scottish jurisdiction. Its vision of a Scotland court in Germany decided that he could be
continuing to cooperate closely with the EU extradited only for a charge of misusing public
appeared at odds with the UK’s direction of travel. funds, not for ‘rebellion’, which has no equivalent
In the long term, it is arguable that the distance in German law. Once its withdrawal from the EU
between the positions of the EU and the UK on has occurred, the UK’s scope for influencing the
the shape of a future treaty remains significant. In ongoing development of justice cooperation will
its report Negotiating Brexit: policing and criminal be minimal, given its absence from decision-
justice, the Institute for Government suggested making. Everything then hinges on how far the
that, while the UK wished to replicate the existing planned agreement will resolve the differences on
modes of cooperation, the EU appeared reluctant view now and in the future.
to extend the level of collaboration much beyond
what has been agreed with other non-EU states. An increasingly fragile system facing
Arrangements regarding extradition, police
uncertainty
cooperation, and data sharing were among the
main issues at stake. As the following sections in this edition reveal,
The UK government’s stance on data protection Brexit was not the only looming challenge. The
was a matter of concern to the EU, which was year saw further signs of a simmering crisis in
echoed by the Joint Committee on Human Rights criminal justice, as fundamental police structures
in its January 2018 legislative scrutiny report on and priorities began to be questioned, the prison
the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. This is an example of and probation services received even more ‘bad
the scrutiny that the EU places on third party notices’, and a new relationship with international
states, which has no legal equivalent in relation criminal justice partners in Europe following
to EU members. In July 2018, in its report Brexit: Brexit remained to be negotiated. How these
the proposed UK-EU security treaty, the European uncertainties can be resolved will be a matter for
Committee of the House of Lords suggested that our next Review.
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
7Speeches
This section begins with an assessment of the which we have made little progression is that of
speeches setting out Scotland’s active programme penal reform’. The long-term trend of increased
of penal reform. The vision presented in Scotland prison numbers was explicitly cited by Matheson
contrasts sharply with the constrained and inert as a problem. But the reforms he said, were
picture in England and Wales. Of all the matters not only about a desire for a more ‘progressive
under the England and Wales Justice Secretary’s evidence based criminal justice policy’, they were
remit, prisons, and specifically safety in prison, also about ‘being the progressive and socially
dominated official speeches. Finally, Sajid Javid’s inclusive nation we want to be’. Plans to extend
first speech as Home Secretary signaled a shift the presumption against custody by the end of
in tone from that of his recent predecessors, and 2018 however, came with caveat. ‘It is of course a
police resources continued to feature as points of presumption and not a ban. Sentencing discretion
debate on both sides of the UK border. remains with the courts’. Matheson seemed to
be warning that transformative potential may not
Socially inclusive nation bring overnight change.
The ongoing redevelopment of Cornton Vale
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland,
women’s prison in Stirling provided a physical
set out the Scottish National Party’s plans
site for this proposed smaller prison imprint.
for government in a speech at Holyrood on 5
With the 230-place women’s prison demolished
September 2017. Extending the presumption
in July 2017, the planned new prison for 80
against some custodial sentences was a flagship
women would not only be smaller but, according
reform of its justice agenda. Current provisions
to Matheson, it would provide ‘an entirely new
covered a presumption against prison sentences
approach’ to ‘custodial care’ based on ‘therapeutic
of up to three months in length. Following several
community principles’ and ‘gender-specific and
years of consultation, it was now proposed to
trauma-informed practice’. Matheson confirmed
extend this to a presumption against prison
Glasgow and announced Dundee as the locations
sentences of up to 12 months. ‘We must now
for two of the five smaller regional ‘community
be even bolder in our efforts to keep people out
custody units’ planned for women alongside the
of prison and reduce re-offending further’, said
new national facility.
Sturgeon. Short prison sentences were ‘both
a poor use of public resources and a waste of
human potential’. Extending the use of electronic Prison crisis
monitoring and rolling out a new model of
The policy agenda on prisons in England and
community justice were other key elements set
Wales was notably less ambitious. In a speech
out in the plans (see Probation).
on prison policy on 18 December 2017, Justice
The following week Michael Matheson, the Secretary David Lidington clarified the reform
Scottish Justice Secretary, set out the case for options as he saw them. If there had been any
these proposed reforms. Nation building was one. momentum for legislative change, the fall of
Twenty years of Scottish devolution ‘has done the last major piece of legislation attempting
great things’ said Matheson, ‘But one area in reform, the Prisons and Courts Bill, at the end of
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
8the previous parliament took the wind out of its was followed by a ‘but’ from the Justice Secretary,
sails. ‘Change’, Lidington said, ‘would be taken ‘if we are to successfully rise to this challenge we
forward by administrative means where possible’. need to mobilise more of government; we need a
With the exception of Private Members’ Bills, new concerted effort across the public sector’.
legislation now seemed off the table to the new
Four months and a reshuffle later, David Gauke
Justice Secretary. Throughout the period under
delivered his first major speech on prison reform
review, no major speeches were given in England
as Justice Secretary on 6 March 2018. He picked
and Wales on probation (which was under review
up the baton passed on by his predecessor of both
for much of this period), or courts.
safety in prison as the overriding prison crisis, and
Lidington’s speech featured no significant new an operational approach to addressing this. ‘We
announcements. Plans to ‘recruit 2,500 extra must get the basics rights’, Gauke said.
prison officers’ and give ‘greater autonomy
Gauke gave more details about what the
to prison governors’, reiterated previous
strategic approach to security, first described
commitments. As did the desire to create
by Lidington, would look like. He proposed a
‘thousands more modern prison places that are
rethink on how to determine which category of
fit for the future’ and close ‘our ancient Victorian
prison a person was placed in. ‘The fact is’, said
prisons’. However, with no accompanying
Gauke, ‘there are around 6,500 prisoners who
announcement about which prison would be
have links to organised crime. At the moment,
next to close, this made the last prison closure
these offenders are spread across the estate’.
announcement that of HMP Holloway – by no
Gauke proposed widening the factors considered
means an ‘ancient Victorian prison’ – in 2015.
when categorising prisoners to include links to
How this target would therefore be met, was
organised crime and violence.
unanswered. It was to remain so throughout
the period under review. In this constrained Prison reform was the subject of second speech
environment, safety in prison became the more by Gauke, on 10 July 2018. Following a series of
refined focus of the Justice Secretary’s speech. damning prison inspection reports and with self-
Drugs – specifically Spice – mobiles in prison, harm and violence in prison both continuing to
drones, and organised crime, were framed as trend upwards, Gauke announced an additional
the problems to be addressed. ‘We need to get £30 million to ‘stabilise the estate’, of which
more strategic in our approach to security’, said £16 million would ‘improve the facilities at the
Lidington. 11 prisons with the most pressing problems’. ‘I
accept’, Gauke said, ‘that in too many parts of
It was possible to detect a sense of resignation
our prison estate today cells are dirty with peeling
about the potential for an agenda beyond this,
paint and exposed wiring, shower and toilet
specifically in relation to addressing high prison
facilities are filthy and broken’.
numbers. ‘I believe too that people don’t want
to see our prison population forever rising. I With drugs, drones and violence given
certainly want to see numbers come down from prominence, the prison crisis was being painted
their current record levels’, said Lidington. This as one of managing problematic individuals.
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
9Speeches
Gauke saw a clear role for the Incentives and Secretary, which had challenged the police’s use
Earned Privileges scheme in this respect. He of the tactic, and seen stop and search rates
called for a renewed focus on utilising ‘sanctions substantially decline since 2010.
and incentives to influence the behaviour we want
to see. I saw the power of this model during my The second was on resources. Javid signalled a
time at the Department for Work and Pensions warmer reception to the police’s ongoing calls for
and I am determined to apply those same additional resources than that of the two previous
principles within our prisons system’. Release on incumbents at the Home Office. He made no firm
Temporary Licence was one example Gauke gave commitments beyond prioritising police funding
whereby prisoners who ‘cooperate during their in the next Spending Review. However, this was a
sentences’ could be granted leave from prison to
notably different position to that taken by Amber
go to work.
Rudd. A few months prior to Javid’s appointment,
Rudd had repeatedly said there was no evidence
Warmer reception that police numbers had a direct correlation
Addressing the annual Police Federation with crime trends. Rudd had been particularly
conference has been an event approached with scathing in a speech to the National Police Chiefs
some trepidation by government ministers in Council and the Association of Police and Crime
recent years. Slow claps and open hostility have Commissioners six months before Javid’s speech:
greeted various politicians who have stood before
‘When crime statistics go up, I don’t just want to
it. Not so for the new Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
see you reaching for a pen to write a press release
Appointed only three weeks before, following asking for more money from the government. I
Rudd’s resignation over the Windrush scandal, want you to tell your local communities and the
Javid used his first speech as Home Secretary
victims in your area what your plan is to make
in May 2018 to mark a clear break with his
them safer’.
predecessors on two key issues. The first was on
his support for controversial police tactics. On Whilst it was still early days for Javid, his speech
stop and search he was unequivocal. ‘I support marked a potential thawing of the frosty relations
the use of stop and search’, said Javid, ‘evidence that had developed between the Home Office and
shows that if you’re black, you’re more likely to be
the police. ‘Let’s reset the relationship between
a homicide victim than any other ethnic group.
the government and the police’, he said. ‘I will
If stop and search can mean saving lives from
the communities most affected, then of course give you the tools, the powers and the back-up
it has to be right’. Such comments ended a that you need to get the job done. For those of you
period of relative political consensus, established who stand on the frontline, be in no doubt, I will
under Theresa May during her term as Home be standing with you’.
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
10Changing shape of policing set out up to 2019-20 show the number of police
officers will remain well above the number we
Resources and police officers were unsurprisingly
inherited in 2007, something I remain strongly
also referenced at the launch of the first ten year
committed to’.
strategy for policing in Scotland in June 2017.
Developed jointly by Police Scotland and the Matheson also repeated the SNP’s commitment
Scottish Police Authority, Policing 2026: Serving a to protect the police budget in real terms up
Changing Scotland contained, Michael Matheson to 2021. How Police Scotland was to meet its
said, the Chief Constable’s assessment to ‘slow significant resource deficit was, though, another
the recruitment of police officers in the longer matter. The Scottish Police Authority and Police
term’ and review the use of support staff to free Scotland, Matheson said, were ‘working to […]
up officers’ time. ‘The plans Police Scotland have deliver’ on the pledge.
Key speeches
19 June 2017 Lord Chancellor swearing-in
David Lidington, Justice Secretary ceremony
20 June 2017 Police strategy
Michael Matheson, Scottish Justice Secretary
5 September 2017 Programme for government
Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister
14 September 2017 Community justice
Michael Matheson, Scottish Justice Secretary
Speech to Association of Police
1 November 2017
and Crime Commissioners and
Amber Rudd, Home Secretary
National Police Chiefs’ Council
29 November 2017 Violence prevention
Michael Matheson, Scottish Justice Secretary
18 December 2017 Prison policy
David Lidington, Justice Secretary
6 March 2018 Prison reform
David Gauke, Justice Secretary
9 April 2018 Launch of the serious violence
Amber Rudd, Home Secretary strategy
23 May 2018 Speech to Police Federation of
Sajid Javid, Home Secretary England and Wales
10 July 2018 Prison reform
David Gauke, Justice Secretary
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
11Legislation
In May 2018 the Justice Secretary, David Gauke, to 12 months. The Bill also proposed that
spoke about the high prison population in courts should consider certain assaults against
England and Wales. ‘Twenty five years ago,’ he told emergency workers an aggravating factor for
The Times newspaper, ‘the population was 44,000. sentencing.
Today it’s 84,000. I would like it to fall.’ In this he
During the Bill’s Second Reading in October
was echoing his predecessor in the role, David
2017, the Bill’s sponsor Chris Bryant volunteered
Lidington, who had likewise expressed a desire to
that the proposed doubling of the maximum
see the prison population fall (see Speeches).
prison sentence had come at the behest of the
Legislation is a key means through which government. ‘My original suggestion’, he told the
parliament can influence the size of the prison House of Commons, ‘was that it should be six
population. Two Bills – on raising the age of months on a summary offence and 12 months
criminal responsibility, and shortening the period on an indictable offence, but the Government
of criminal record declaration – were examples decided that they would prefer it to be 12
of legislation that, if implemented, could make months on either’. During the same debate, the
a small contribution to reducing the prison Conservative MP Antoinette Sandbach pointed
population. They were also Private Members’ Bills, out that summary offences were generally
with little hope of gaining the government support considered less serious than indictable offences.
needed to passed into law. Rather than propose that the former should be
By contrast, three Government Bills – on the reset to Bryant’s original six month maximum,
misuse of laser pointers; the sale and possession she proposed that the maximum for indictable
of corrosive products and knives; and the problem offences should be increased to 24 months. Not
of so-called ‘upskirting’ – proposed new offences a single MP spoke against the increase in prison
and prisons sentences of up to five years. A sentence lengths during the debate. The Bill
range of Private Members’ Bills also proposed became law in September 2018.
new offences and prison sentences for a range of
perceived problems, including pet theft, stalking, Age of Criminal Responsibility
and injury to police dogs, horses and other animals. (Scotland) Bill
The Government also lent it support to a Private
Members’ Bill on assaults on emergency workers. Attempts to raise the age of criminal responsibility
in England and Wales were relegated to Private
Members’ Bills with little hope of success. In
Assaults on Emergency Workers
Scotland, the Government introduced a Bill
(Offences) Bill
in March 2018 to raise the age of criminal
In England and Wales, prior to the Bill becoming responsibility from eight to 12. It followed
law, assaults on on-duty police officers, prison a consultation during which 95 per cent of
officers and immigration officers were offences respondents supported the rise. Speaking of the
carrying a maximum prison sentence of six legislation, Early Years Minister Maree Todd said,
months. There was no specific offence of assault ‘We know the actions of children who harm others
on other emergency workers, such as paramedics are often a symptom of trauma in their own lives
or fire fighters. The Bill proposed to introduce and that accruing a criminal record actually drives
a new offence of assault against an emergency more offending. This legislation will help turn
worker, doubling the maximum prison sentence around the lives of troubled, primary school age
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
12children – who are often vulnerable themselves charge on changes to criminal record declaration
– by addressing their deeds in the context of periods. While in England and Wales this too
supporting their needs’. The Bill was still in was the subject of a Private Members’ Bill, in
progress at the end of the period under review. Scotland it formed a key part of the Management
of Offenders Bill. The Bill also included provision
to extend GPS tagging and tracking of convicted
Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill
law breakers in the community, as well as changes
The Scottish Government was also leading the to the operation of the Parole Board.
Legislation
Date
Legislation introduced Status on 24 July 2018
UK Parliament
Type of
Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill 26 Jun 17 In progress
legislation
Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill 4 Jul 17 In progress
Private Members’ Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill 19 Jul 17 In progress
Government Criminal Fraud (Private Prosecutions) Bill 5 Sep 17 In progress
Criminal Records Bill 29 Jun 17 In progress
Football Offences (Amendment) Bill 25 Jun 18 In progress
Foreign Nationals (Criminal Offender and Prisoner Removal) Bill 5 Sep 17 In progress
Genocide Determination Bill 13 Jul 17 In progress
Genocide Determination (No. 2) Bill 5 Sep 17 In progress
Illegal Immigration (Offences) Bill 5 Sep 17 In progress
Judicial Appointments and Retirements (Age Limits) Bill 5 Sep 17 In progress
Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Act 19 Dec 17 Royal Assent (10 May 18)
Legalisation of Cannabis (Medicinal Purposes) Bill 10 Oct 17 In progress
Offensive Weapons Bill 20 Jun 18 In progress
Pets (Theft) Bill 3 Jul 18 In progress
Policing Resources Bill 6 Jul 17 In progress
Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy) Bill 19 Jul 17 In progress
Prisons (Substance Testing) Bill 17 Apr 18 In progress
Road Traffic Offenders (Surrender of Driving Licences Etc) Bill 11 Jul 17 In progress
Road Traffic Offenders (Surrender of Driving Licences Etc) (No. 2) Bill 1 May 18 In progress
Service Animals (Offences) Bill 5 Dec 17 In progress
Stalking Protection Bill 19 Jul 17 In progress
Victims of Crime (Rights, Entitlements, and Notification of Child Sexual 6 Jul 17 In progress
Abuse) Bill
Violent Crime (Sentences) Bill 7 Jun 18 In progress
Voyeurism (Offences) Bill 6 Mar 18 Discontinued
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill 21 Jun 18 In progress
Scottish Parliament
Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Bill 13 Mar 18 In progress
Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill 22 Feb 18 In progress
Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Bill 12 Jun 18 In progress
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
13Police
How many helmets?
Key reports
The prospect of the General Election had
Report of the Independent Review
stimulated a competition among parties to of Deaths and Serious Incidents in
claim virtue for their proposals to build up police Police Custody
numbers. Yet following the Election, it was hard 30 October 2017
to see much change in the status quo. While in There is much more to be done to
England and Wales, the police workforce as a prevent, properly investigate and learn
whole rose slightly in the year to 31 March 2018, the lessons from deaths in custody
the number of police officers continued to fall, to
The patronising disposition of
122,204, compared with 141,157 ten years earlier.
unaccountable power
Indeed the Chief Inspector, Sir Thomas Winsor, Right Reverend James Jones
referred to further planned reductions, which by 1 November 2017
2021 would see police officer numbers fall by 13
The Hillsborough families’ struggle
per cent since 2011. In contrast Cabinet Secretary for justice faced institutions closing
Michael Matheson affirmed that officer numbers ranks, stonewalling, use of public
in Scotland would remain stable. money to defend institutional
interests, and intimidation
Controlling spending Strategic Review of Undercover
Policing in Scotland
Under Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s regime, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in
efficiency savings were to be facilitated by access Scotland
to a ‘transformation’ fund and by rationalising 7 February 2018
equipment purchase. Police and Crime There were 423 Scottish police
Commissioners (PCCs) were allowed to raise undercover operations between
precepts, a strategy that placed responsibility on 2000 and 2016, but no evidence of
localities rather than on central government. The infiltration of social justice campaigns
appointment of Sajid Javid as Home Secretary
Review of the Scottish Police
on 30 April 2018, following Rudd’s resignation, Authority Executive
brought a new tone of urgency to the question of Scottish Government
funding, as he promised to prioritise policing in 2 March 2018
the Comprehensive Spending Review in 2019. The Scottish Police Authority is
The 2016/17 audit of the Scottish Police Authority, in a position to ensure police
accountability and effective scrutiny,
published by Audit Scotland in December 2017,
but it needs to focus on its core tasks.
was critical of the financial deficit, amounting
to over £16 million and forecast to rise in State of Policing
subsequent years. It identified plans to reach a HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and
balanced budget by 2020/2021. Instances of ‘poor Fire & Rescue Services
governance and poor use of public money’ were 12 June 2018
highlighted in the report. Most police forces have risen to the
challenge of tighter budges, but better
long-term planning is needed.
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
14Violent crime recorded by the police1
England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland
2012/13 to 2016/17 to 2012/13 to 2016/17 to 2012/13 to 2016/17 to
2017/18 2017/18 2017/18 2017/18 2017/18 2017/18
Homicide
32% 2% 8% 4
7% 4
35% 59%
Violence
with injury
64% 2
10% 2
15% 5
No change
5
8% 2%
Sexual offences
181% 3
24% 3
62% 13% 78% 9%
Robbery
18% 2
30% 2
15% 8% 43% 12%
Violence
without injury
152% 2
24% 2
4% 6
1% 6
24% 2%
1) Recorded crime only covers those incidents which come to the attention of the police. As such, 3) Increases are likely down to improvements in recording and greater willingness of victims to
for many types of crime they do not provide reliable measures of levels or trends in crime. It come forward.
also follows that a change in levels of recorded crime do not necessarily reflect changes in the 4) Includes causing death by driving.
real levels of crime.
5) Refers to attempted murder and serious assault in the Scottish recorded crime statistics.
2) Increases are in part down to improvements in recording.
6) Refers to common assault in the Scottish recorded crime statistics.
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
15Police
A sense of unease
Policing 2026
While business as usual seemed to prevail, there
1 Protection
was a growing and palpable sense of unease in Based on threat, risk and harm
policy circles over the police’s strategic direction
Detecting crime, protecting vulnerable
in coping with rising and different demands.
people, responding to incidents,
While violence on the streets was perceived to be maintaining order and ensuring
a rising threat, online fraud, child sexual abuse, national security
and the protection of the vulnerable were coming
to be regarded as problems to which the police 2 Prevention
Tackling crime, inequality and
appeared unable to respond adequately. A Home
enduring problems facing communities
Affairs Committee Inquiry had begun to focus
critically on these questions, though its report did Partnership working to deliver
prevention, support vulnerable people,
not appear till Autumn 2018.
and deliver early interventions
In his 2017 State of Policing annual assessment, Her
3 Communities
Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Thomas
Focus on localism, diversity and the
Winsor, returned to a past theme, lamenting a lack
virtual world
of long-term planning in England and Wales. In this
Working with communities of place,
respect, at least, the picture in Scotland appeared
identity and virtual connection,
different, with the approval of a national policing through community engagement,
strategy due to extend to 2026 (see Policing participation, and collaboration
2026). In the same annual assessment, Sir Thomas
Winsor gave an impression of some forces in 4 Knowledge
England and Wales struggling to cope: Informing the development of better
services
Almost a quarter of forces are not meeting
Using its knowledge to influence,
enough of their demand or are managing it inform and work with partners,
inappropriately. In some cases, forces are putting government and the public
vulnerable people at serious risk of harm.
5 Innovation
In England and Wales, recorded crime figures Dynamic, adaptable and sustainable
began to show rises, prompting a renewed
Learn from best practice and design
focus on serious violence. In April 2018, Amber
new services in partnership whilst
Rudd launched the Serious Violence Strategy, constantly preparing for emerging
combining a series of measures: a National issues in the future
Coordinating Centre to combat ‘county lines’ drug
Source: Policing 2026: Our 10 year strategy for policing in Scotland
dealing; funding for projects, including the Early
Intervention Youth Fund; and a media campaign
facing a call from the cross-party Youth Violence
about the risks of knife carrying. However,
Commission for a change of strategy, emulating
enthusiasm for the strategy was muted. The
the ‘public health’ approach adopted in Glasgow
Association of Directors of Children’s Services
with apparent success. Tellingly, the Violence
was disappointed that it provided little for local
Reduction Unit in Scotland had its own ten-year
authorities to develop their responses.
strategy, highlighting another contrast with the
By July 2018, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was planning horizons current in England and Wales.
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
16Vulnerability and hate recommended a comprehensive cyber strategy
for the province, a review of measures to address
In general, Sir Thomas Winsor reported some fraud, and improving the police’s capability to
improvements in the police response to access evidence. In Scotland, the government
vulnerable people, such as victims of domestic committed itself to challenge hate crime, by
abuse. However, in Stolen freedom inspectors initiating action across the public services. It
in England and Wales ‘found a high level of also commissioned an independent review of
inconsistency’ in the way various police forces relevant legislation, including online hate, by
had implemented the Modern Slavery Act 2015,
Lord Bracadale.
with ‘poor outcomes for many victims’. The
Chief Inspector also identified a crisis in child
and adolescent mental health services which, he Governance and reorganisation
stated, was storing up problems for police.
In the aftermath of the Hillsborough inquests,
In PEEL: Police effectiveness 2017, the Inspectorate the South Yorkshire Police and Crime
also warned that the commitment of police to Commissioner (PCC), Dr Alan Billings attempted
respond to mental health needs should not lead to dismiss the Chief Constable David Crompton,
to them substituting for stretched local services. who had issued a statement deemed to have
Evidence from the National Police Chiefs’ Council questioned the inquest findings, only to see
to the Home Affairs Committee warned of the the dismissal quashed by the High Court. By
danger of creating joint working practices with upholding the operational independence of
health services when the demands were clearly Chief Constables, the Court judgement has wider
the proper responsibility of health. Matthew implications for interpreting the powers of the
Scott of the Association of Police and Crime PCC over the Chief Constable that may become
Commissioners said: significant in the future.
Mental health represents between 20% and 40% In July 2017, the Inspectorate of Constabulary
of police time, depending where you are in the took over responsibility for inspecting Fire and
country. This limits forces’ capacity to deal with Rescue Services. In the process, it acquired the
crime and antisocial behaviour. formidable title, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate
Various threats online were a topic of gathering of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services
concern, as shown by Hate crime: abuse, hate and (HMICFRS). By March 2018, four PCCs (Essex,
extremism online, the government’s response to West Mercia, Staffordshire and Cambridgeshire)
a report by the Home Affairs Committee. A new had been approved to take over fire and rescue
national police-led hub to tackle online hate crime services, in accordance with the Policing and
was announced, in order to support victims and Crime Act 2017. In June 2017, despite opposition,
increase prosecutions. New regulatory options the Scottish Parliament enacted legislation to
would be considered by government if social media integrate British Transport Police functions
companies failed to comply with their obligations. into Police Scotland. However, progress in
In July 2018, Sajid Javid announced plans to train implementing a merger proved to be slow.
police call handlers enabling them to give a better
In Scotland, continued scrutiny focused on
response to people reporting hate crime.
the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). In June
Cyber-crime was the subject of a report by Criminal 2017 HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in
Justice Inspection Northern Ireland, which Scotland (HMICS) delivered a critical report on
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
17Police
leadership in the SPA and sought to increase the The handling of complaints varies a great deal
transparency and effectiveness of the authority. and we hope that changes next year promote a
It had led to the resignation, in June, of the culture across policing which is more consistent
Chair, Andrew Flanagan. He stayed in post until and transparent.
December when the new Chair, Professor Susan In one of his last actions as Cabinet Secretary
Deacon, took over, supported by a new interim for Justice, Michael Matheson commissioned
SPA Chief Officer Kenneth Hogg. In March 2018, Dame Elish Angiolini to review Scotland’s system
an organisational review of the SPA Executive for complaints handling, investigations and
made 17 recommendations. misconduct.
In January, Cabinet Secretary Matheson came
under pressure over alleged interference Deaths
with a critical report on the SPA’s handling of
complaints. In June he was appointed Cabinet The Independent Review of Deaths and Serious
Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Incidents in Police Custody, an earlier report by
Connectivity and his justice portfolio was taken by Dame Elish Angiolini, was published in October
Humza Yousaf. 2017. Dame Elish emphasised that in order to
reassure families of the bereaved, former police
The Police Service of Northern Ireland gained officers should no longer lead investigations.
approving judgements from HMICFRS, but its Resources should be available to ensure
unduly short-term funding arrangements were investigators could arrive at the scene urgently.
considered to be a limitation, which raised a She warned that officers’ restraint of people in
question about the role of the still suspended mental health crisis carried a systematic risk of
Assembly. death, which policy, practice and training should
address. Mental health and alcohol services could
Accountability provide alternative safe places for detainees.
Other changes should be introduced to assist
The 2016-2017 complaints statistics for police families, including counselling and legal advice.
forces in England and Wales showed significant
The government’s response to the review took
variations among forces in the rate of allegations
a similar tack. It promised to furnish families
ranging from 133 to 512 per 1,000 employees.
with access to legal aid. Progress in improving
Procedures also varied markedly: in six forces,
the use of restraint techniques was described.
60 per cent or more allegations were finalised
According to the National Strategy for Police
through a formal investigation, whereas in 11
Custody, alternatives to police custody should
forces, 60 per cent or more were dealt with
always be considered. The government wanted to
through local resolution.
stop police officers being used in place of health
In January 2018, the newly renamed Independent professionals when dealing with people in mental
Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) was formally health crisis. By 2021, Liaison and Diversion
launched with a brief to provide greater Services to assess mental health needs and make
independence to the complaint investigation referrals should be universal. Reforms in the
process. A new Director General, Michael Policing and Crime Act 2017 were set to increase the
Lockwood, would be backed by a new Board. In resources and responsibilities of the independent
September 2018 Lockwood went on to declare that: investigation body, now reconstituted as the
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
18IOPC. However, the government did not accept Spying
the review’s recommendation of an independent
In July 2017, Sir John Mitting, a retired judge,
National Coroner Service to address shortcomings
was appointed to take over as chair of the
in the current structure administered by local
Undercover Policing Inquiry. By May 2018, Mitting
authorities. A newly-reformed Ministerial Council
on Deaths in Custody was to drive forward other had issued a strategic review which set out
changes. some milestones for the Inquiry. Over 200 core
participants, including alleged victims, had been
In July 2018, the IOPC published annual figures identified. By March 2018, more than £10 million
for deaths in or following police custody which had been spent. But, as release of the actual
ominously rose to 23 in 2017/2018 – the highest
identities of undercover officers was reviewed with
total for a decade. In cases where force had
extraordinary scrupulousness, the delays in the
been used, five of the 11 people who died were
hearings were leading to growing distrust. Dismay
black. There was an increase in investigations of
was compounded by the fact that the Inquiry was
deaths following police contact, with a third of
due to extend to the close of 2023, a timeline
cases referred subject to its investigation, thanks,
nonetheless described by the chair as ‘ambitious’.
it seemed, to receiving additional resources.
Inquest, the organisation advocating on behalf In November 2017, Helen Steel, who had been
of families, echoed the criticism, by the Angiolini lured into a relationship with an undercover
Review, that the system was failing vulnerable officer, stated to the Inquiry:
people with addictions and mental ill-health who There is a real feeling of power imbalance
ended up in police custody, instead of accessing between the two sides: the resources at their
the services they needed. disposal, the representation, the time that we get
to read these documents, understand them and
A duty of candour discuss them with our lawyers and indeed with
each other.
Legal action slowly emerged against those
In the same month, the police inspectorate in
accused of covering up misconduct connected
with the deaths at Hillsborough in 1989. The cases Scotland published its review of undercover
of 23 suspects had been recommended to the policing in Scotland. It concluded that the Special
Crime Prosecution Service for its consideration, and Demonstration Squad had deployed six, among a
it announced a small number of prosecutions after possible total of 18, undercover officers at the G8
receiving material from the IOPC. Summit in 2005, but that so-called ‘undercover
advanced officers’ (undertaking complex or long
A report by the Chair of the Hillsborough
term work) from Police Scotland had not infiltrated
Independent Panel and Bishop of Liverpool,
any social justice campaigns. It recommended that
James Jones, sought to find long-term remedies to
forces should in future share information about
avoid the repetition of families’ tragic experiences,
cross-border undercover deployments.
calling for a Charter for Families Bereaved through
Public Tragedy. Jones supported the principle In June 2018, the Chief Inspector Sir Thomas
of legislating for a new ‘duty of candour’, and Winsor reported that most forces in England and
endorsed a version specifically for police. He Wales needed to do more work to put plans in
urged too that lessons be drawn from the criminal place to look for intelligence on potential abuse of
and disciplinary investigations still in progress. position for a sexual purpose.
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
19Data dashboard
The three data dashboard charts offer an at-a- • Criminalising: the criminal justice caseload, from
glance view of the key criminal justice data across the point of an offence being recorded to the
the three UK jurisdictions at three points in time: point of conviction.
the 2013/14, 2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years.
• Punishing: the main outcomes from
This means key criminal justice changes can be
convictions: fines, community supervision and
seen over a short and longer time period.
imprisonment.
To make it as easy as possible to understand this
The area of each slice represents the value of the
mass of data, we have used a form of pie chart.
indicator in a given year. Each slice is represented
These represent the magnitude of different data,
proportional to the other slices in its domain.
relative to each other.
For instance, the slice representing police staff in
The charts for England and Wales and Scotland Northern Ireland in 2017/18 (6,901) is around ten
contain 57 ‘slices’ of data, and the one for times the size of the slice for courts and tribunals
Northern Ireland contains 60 slices. All charts are staff in the same year (680). The slices are not
divided into four domains: represented proportionally across domains, nor
between the different jurisdictions.
• Spending: how much was spent across the
different agencies and fields of operation (e.g. For more information on the data dashboard, see
police, legal aid, prosecution). the technical appendix on page 38.
• Staffing: how many people worked in the
different agencies and fields of operation.
England and Wales
rts a
nd Prosecution Police
2013/14 Couribunals
ing
£0.519bn
T
£0.506bn
128,346
nd
£0.583b
Pri
£1.64
e
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£1.7
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366
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£1.
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076 n
n
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me
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915 n 10
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tr
81b
n
rts an
£8.51 9
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d
£8.559b
n 15,8 57
£9.194bn 6,611
Prosecution
nce ents
123,885 5,659
on
Probatim
134,726 4,028
5,688
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comme
31
156,6 4,97
P
2,82
o
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l
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85,
sec
85,2
ina
nis ion lis utio
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09
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ing ns
pop rison Conv
P fines ictions
Court-ordered
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
20Scotland
nd Prosecution
rts a Police
2013/14 Cou ibunals
tr
£0.109bn
£0.111bn
17,244
£0.113b
Pri
£0.00
6
son
17,25
70
2016/17
£0.0
aid
£0.
1 7 ,1
10
g
al
din
1bn
01b
eg
4,5
68
£0
022 n
n
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en
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4,5
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n
L
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£0
49
b
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4,5
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2,1
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50
n
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on
6b 1,9
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£0. n 70
025 1,9
bn
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£0.0 4
1,37
tr
30b
n
rts an
£0.33
1bn 1,533
Prison
d
£0.338b 1,566
n
£0.281bn 1,585
Prosecution
£1.148bn 1,617
£1.129bn
Police
1,598
bn 270,3
£ 1.290 97
Police
238
34 ,921
19,4
crimecorde
244
bat ents
,50
567
r
4
20,
e
Pro encem
15
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7 0,7
,45 3
20 8 83 5
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18 6
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39,260
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os cou
tio ion
3
18
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107
als
5
at
n
44,946
l
64
93
16
pu rt
95,
,36
105,
po roba
52
7,4
Cr
Pro
92,347
1
254
im
82,716
57,797
7,5
P sec
7,85
ina
664
utio
u lation g lis
ing ns
pop rison hin Conv
P nis fines ictions
Pu
Court-ordered
Northern Ireland
and
Courtsunals Prosecutio
g Trib n
din
2013/14 en id Poli
p al a ce
£0.046bn
£0.039bn
S
£0.038bn
£0.042bn
Leg
£0.03
£0.04
£0.0
6
2016/17
7,28
£0.
32
on Pr
6bn
0bn
84b
ati
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124
7,1
i
01
.14 bn
2017/18
£0
8
6,9
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so
ob
bn
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5
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.01
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n
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0
n
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Pro
7
ffin
40
on
5
bat
£0. b
g
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116 n 356
ion
£0.1 bn
28bn 394
Courtsnaals
£0.91 747
tribu
0bn
Police
£0.935bn 680
nd
£1.074bn 680
2,420
Probatio ents
546
Prosecutio Poli
n
n commencem
2,644 481
3,017 470
102
n
0 ,746
2,37 101
47 ,18
ba n
2, 3 4
Propulatio
10
crimecord
c
o
1,8
e
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ti
2,5 2 11 82
r
e ed
po
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5,3 57
3
n s
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1,4 1
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6
p
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o
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27,
13,14
,63
ing
rec Pri
72
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28,83
649
sh
1,4
22,956
rt P
1,82
23,630
15,725
ni tion
Cr ros
54
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im ecu
tion
1
popPrison ina s
Convict lis
fines ed ions ing
Court-order
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
21Courts
Buildings, IT and working practices
Key reports
In September 2016, HM Courts and Tribunals
Rethinking Legal Aid
Service launched Transforming our justice system, Martyn Evans
a £1.2 billion programme to change the way the 28 February 2018
courts and tribunals system worked. It consisted
Legal aid in Scotland needs a
of three major programmes, heavy on ambition fundamentally new approach, with
and technological innovation (see Technology the interests of the user and financial
on trial). The annual expected savings from sustainability at its heart.
2023-2024 onwards were put at £265m. Staffing
Speeding up justice
was expected to be reduced by 5,000 by March
Northern Ireland Audit Office
2023, and the number of cases held in physical
27 March 2018
courtrooms each year were planned to reduce by
Northern Ireland prosecutions are
2.4 million.
slower, less efficient and more costly
A National Audit Office report published in compared with England and Wales.
May 2018 – Early progress in transforming courts
and tribunals – found evidence of the delays, Transforming courts and tribunals
House of Commons Public Accounts
cost overruns and rethinks common to many
Committee
ambitious government programmes. Despite 20 July 2018
extending the implementation timetable from
The government has embarked on a
four to six years, only two-thirds of the planned
hugely ambitious court modernisation
outcomes had been delivered on time. In programme that is unlikely to deliver
a July 2018 report, the House of Commons as planned.
Public Accounts Committee stated that it had
‘little confidence that… this hugely ambitious Disclosure of evidence in criminal
cases
programme’ would be successfully delivered.
House of Commons Justice
Around one third of the funding for change Committee
programme came from the sale of closed court 20 July 2018
and tribunal sites, so noted the Fit for the future Failure to disclose evidence is a
consultation launched by the Ministry of Justice widespread, long-term problem that
in January 2018. The court and tribunal estate had needs to be addressed
shrunk from some 605 courts in 2010 to 350 by
Criminal Legal Aid
late 2017 (see UKJPR 7). Fit for the future proposed House of Commons Justice Committee
the closure of a further eight court buildings. 26 July 2018
A comprehensive rethink of the legal
Speeding up court processes aid system is urgently needed with the
aim of developing a sustainable, user-
In June 2015 the ‘Transforming Summary Justice’ focused system.
programme was implemented across England
UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 8 8 June 2017 to 24 July 2018
22Technology on trial
HM Courts and Tribunals Reform Common Platform Programme Transforming Compliance and
Programme Shared processes and digital case Enforcement Programme
Moving activity out of the physical management for courts, prosecution Upgrading systems used to enforce
court room, such as online services, and police. fines, compensation and other court
digital case files, video hearings. orders.
(Source: National Audit Office, Early progress in transforming courts and tribunals, May 2018)
and Wales, aimed at streamlining magistrates’ disclose to the defence information that might
courts processes (see UKJPR 6). Business as help the accused. He returned to the theme in the
Usual?, a report by the Crown Prosecution Service Commission’s 2017/18 Annual Report. ‘We know
Inspectorate published in June 2017, found that they did it, how can we prove it’, Foster wrote,
the ‘high level of commitment’ to implement the was a mind-set that was ‘still too prevalent in our
programme across the criminal justice agencies justice system’.
was matched with only ‘limited improvements It was ‘common knowledge’, a joint report into
in performance’. A March 2018 report from the disclosure by the Crown Prosecution Service
Northern Ireland Audit Office – Speeding up (CPS) and Police Inspectorates stated in July
justice – concluded that Northern Ireland court 2017, that non-compliance with the disclosure
processes were slower and more costly compared process by both the police and CPS was a
with England and Wales. These performance long-standing issue. The report, Making it fair,
issues, the report claimed, had been known about referred to ‘a continuing decision by the police
‘for at least a decade’. Despite ‘renewed efforts to and CPS to accept the risk associated with poor
tackle avoidable delay and improve performance’ disclosure practices and procedures’ to improve
of recent years, the ‘scale of inefficiency which the likelihood of a successful conviction. Indeed,
exists in Northern Ireland’ was still striking. it argued that the police and CPS rarely revealed
material in its possession that might ‘undermine
the prosecution case or assist the defence case’.
Disclosure of evidence The police and CPS published A National Disclosure
In 2016 the Chair of the Criminal Cases Review Improvement Plan in January 2018.
Commission, Richard Foster, stated that the The July 2018 report, Disclosure of evidence in
single, most frequent cause of a miscarriage criminal cases, by the House of Commons Justice
of justice was the failure by the prosecution to Committee, argued that disclosure problems had
CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES
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